Chapter 31: Rescue

  The houses in the White Tiger Mountain stronghold were built along the mountain terrain, and to prevent rainwater from washing away, all the houses were built with a raised foundation, giving off a hint of a stilt house. On a dark night with sparse stars, 5 black figures crept towards a room, their movements swift and silent. In the darkness, Wan Chuan whispered, "Big brother, they're here, there are 5 people!" Wan Chuan's ears were extremely sharp, his judgment very accurate. "Let them in, Wu Bao you take care of two, I'll take care of two, and Wan Chuan will handle the last one!" Chen Jintan waved his hand, and the three of them stood on the ground, positioning themselves for a advantageous attack.

  The door was gently opened, and three black shadows first flashed in, with a clear goal rushing towards the bed where someone was sleeping. Two black shadows guarded the door, ready to provide support at any time. The five beds on the kang showed the illusion of people sleeping, but in fact, only Song Fei was snoring loudly on the kang. At this moment, the three brothers almost simultaneously took action. Chen Jintan's figure flashed out from the dark, with great force and a flying kick, one of them was kicked in the chest and flew forward. Then Chen Jintan kicked another black shadow with his other foot.

  In the darkness, all the rivers also rushed towards a black shadow. At this time, Wu Bao was dealing with two guys at the door. He adopted a low squatting posture and swept his legs to knock down the two guys. Then he jumped up and kicked one of the fallen guys violently. After tens of seconds, the fight ended. Chen Jintan lit a torch, and five guys were lying on the ground. Three of them had already fainted, while the other two were groaning in pain.

  Chen Jintang saw that Wan Chuan's sleeve had been torn open, and fresh blood was flowing out of his arm. "How are you?" Chen Jintang asked. "It doesn't matter, just a small cut!" Wan Chuan replied nonchalantly. Without needing to discuss it, the few men quickly tied up the five people securely. Chen Jintang grabbed one of the conscious ones by the neck and urgently asked: "Where is Ge Shi Xiong?" The little scoundrel didn't make a sound, so Chen Jintang swiftly stabbed his dagger into the man's chest. Then Chen Jintang grabbed another one by the neck.

  The little guy begged for mercy, saying: "Your Majesty spare my life, Ge Shiying is in the conference hall!" Chen Jintan didn't hesitate at all, and quickly finished off the little guy. Wan Chuan and Wu Bao didn't need to say a word, and swiftly took care of the guys who were still unconscious. The three then drew their pistols and rushed towards the conference hall. At this time, Ge Shiying and several trusted aides were waiting for good news, when they heard the commotion outside, Ge Shiying excitedly stood up. But to his great surprise, Chen Jintan charged in with a face full of killing intent, and Ge Shiying was shocked.

  Ge Shi Xiong reacted quickly, drawing out his treasured sword. With two loud cracks, Ge Shi Xiong's legs were hit by bullets and he fell to the ground with a thud. Several of his trusted followers came to their senses, drew their knives, and rushed forward. Wan Chuan and Wu Bao fired their guns without missing a shot, and in an instant, they killed several people who fell to the ground, unable to breathe. Upon hearing the gunfire, many mountain bandits ran out from various rooms, some with bare torsos, others wearing only pants, rushing frantically into the grand hall.

  "Ge Shi Xiong, in front of all my brothers, I will kill you justly. Firstly, you have been plotting against me for wealth. Secondly, you have become a bandit, robbing and killing innocent people, ruining the reputation of our army, which is exactly what I need to clean up." "Brothers, don't..." Ge Shi Xiong had only shouted out one sentence when a loud gunshot was heard, and Ge Shi Xiong's head exploded with blood splattering everywhere. Chen Jin Tan blew on the gun barrel, while Wan Chuan and Wu Bao also aimed their guns at the crowd.

  The crowd was shocked, and suddenly someone knelt on the ground, followed by a chorus of kneelings. "Your Majesty, we follow you!" Someone led the chant, and then everyone shouted in unison. Chen Jintan said sternly: "Brothers! I, Chen Jintan, am at odds with the imperial court, but now our forces are weak, and we must slowly accumulate strength. Once the opportunity is ripe, we will rise up." "Your Majesty, we'll follow you to fight!" The crowd was stirred up.

  Chen Jintang said, "From now on, no one is allowed to rob or loot, or commit any crimes against women. If anyone dares to cross the line, I, Chen Jintang, will not forgive them. I promise you all that you will have food and drink, and from now on, live a good life!" The crowd bowed their heads again, saying "Great King's teachings, forever remembered in our hearts, we swear to be loyal to the Great King until death!" Chen Jintang seemed to remember something and asked, "Has Ge Shi Xiong robbed any women in the past month?" The crowd fell silent.

  "What's going on here?!" Wang Chuan said impatiently. "Reporting to the king, a month ago we kidnapped a woman from Song Village!" A soldier in front stammered. "Where is this woman?" "Reporting to the king, this woman was very strong-willed and jumped off a cliff before we could bring her up the mountain!" Chen Jintan said to Wang Chuan and Wu Bao, "This matter must not be told to Song Fei!" As soon as he finished speaking, Song Fei stumbled in.

  Upon seeing this scene, everything became clear. "I want to find my wife! I want to find my wife! Where is my wife?" Song Fei ran out incoherently, followed by Wan Chuan. Chen Jintan let out a sigh and ordered the crowd to drag away Ge Shiying's and his loyalists' corpses for burial. A man stepped forward and knelt down on the ground: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving my life back then!" Chen Jintan examined him carefully, somewhat perplexed. The man said: "That year I was seriously ill, Ge Shiying had me thrown into a desolate wilderness, but you happened to pass by and stopped it, so I managed to survive." It had been too long ago, and Chen Jintan truly couldn't recall it.

  "What's your name, little one is called Geng San!" "Geng San brothers, from now on you are the second master of the mountain stronghold!" "Thank you, Da Wang, I will be loyal to death." Song Fei walked in quietly, looking a bit down. Behind him followed over a dozen women. The women all had disheveled hair and dull eyes. Wan Chuan came forward and said: "These women were locked up in the mountain cave, they were all kidnapped."

  Chen Jintang said with a gentle tone, "Tomorrow I'll send you down the mountain, so rest well tonight!" The woman's gaze remained dull and seemed unaffected. "They will also be on a dead-end road when they go back!" Song Fei said sorrowfully. "Alright! You can stay on the mountain. Ge Shi Xiong is dead, no one dares to bully you anymore, take them down!" Chen Jintang waved his hand and then ordered everyone to rest.

  A few days later, the brothers gathered to discuss. Chen Jintan said: "Baihu Mountain is our unexpected joy. The location is very good, located at the intersection of two provinces, and it takes 10 days to get to Shanghai from here. If we ride fast horses, we can arrive in three days. We must manage Baihu Mountain well, recruit talents, accumulate strength, and we will definitely use it in the future." Chen Jintan's strategic vision has made great progress under Deng Zixuan's influence. "What about the task that Master gave us?" asked Wanchuan, puzzled.

  "You and Wu Bao go to Shandong, this place is a good foothold, I'll stay in White Tiger Fort!" Chen Jintan said. "What's your mission?" Song Fei asked curiously, his mood had improved a lot these past few days. "Don't pry into things you shouldn't know!" Wan Chuan glared at him. "I'm now one of you, maybe I can help! I've been familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War since childhood, I have strategies in my heart, people call me Little Zhuge!" Song Fei shook his head. "Still calling yourself Little Zhuge? With your useless appearance, that's just mocking you!" Now you're arrogant, forgetting life and death! Wan Chuan and Wu Bao looked at him disdainfully.

  Chen Jintang thought to himself: This young man is familiar with the local situation and can read and write, maybe he can help. "Song brother, don't mind these two gentlemen joking around. It's like this..." Chen Jintang explained their purpose in detail. Song Fei slowly said: "The age requirement is quite loose, but other requirements are more difficult, it's indeed not easy to handle. However, I do have a place to go?"

  "What's the destination?" The three of them were in a hurry. Song Fei said slowly, "In the northwest direction of White Tiger Mountain, there is a quarry where the family members of the imperial court's convicts are imprisoned. After the officials were exiled, their children were all locked up here. Many of these convict children were sold as slaves, and almost all the males were imprisoned in the quarry to do hard labor. Among them, many were half-grown children. These people meet the conditions: they all hate the imperial court and can read and write, and the key is that the oldest prisoner held here does not exceed 30 years old."

  "How many prison guards are there?" Chen Jintan asked. Song Fei remained calm and unhurried, picking up his teacup to take a sip of tea. "What's the big deal? Are you trying to scare us to death?" Wan Chuan said discontentedly. Song Fei remained unmoved, saying as before: "From what I know, there are about a hundred or so prison guards on duty. If you make up your minds, the brothers from White Tiger Mountain can handle them without any problem." "Big brother, I think it's doable! Let's just take out all the guards and rescue the prisoners. These people will follow us to the death!" Wu Bao said.

  "We can't kill him, if we do, the repercussions will be too great and the imperial court will pursue us relentlessly. If the fugitive escapes and the authorities have no leads, it'll all come to nothing. It seems our only option is to launch a surprise attack and rescue the prisoner, then we can interrogate them further.

  The next day, Chen Jintang selected over 50 men from the mountain stronghold, before setting out he left Geng San in charge of the White Tiger stronghold. The group rode swiftly, arriving at the quarry in less than two days."

  Chen Jintang stood at a high point, taking out his monocular telescope to observe. Indeed, as Song Fei had said, the prisoners were working, with over 300 people present. About 1 li away from the quarry was a tall wall that seemed to be where the prisoners were being held. The prisoners went out to work during the day and returned to their cells at night. Chen Jintang saw that the guards watching them were very lax, probably because these prisoners were very obedient and rarely tried to escape. In fact, Chen Jintang looked down on these people - charging into battle required some courage, and he couldn't understand why Deng Zixuan needed such people.

  Deng Zixuan's idea was not for the moment, but a long-term plan. When someone has a deep-seated hatred for the imperial court, they inherently possess a certain kind of bloodlust. When an entire group possesses this kind of atmosphere, people will be fearless in it, and the key is what kind of platform you provide. Deng Zixuan must gather a group of people who are willing to sacrifice everything, not just heroic figures. An army without a common goal or culture is a foolish army. Especially during peacetime, when raising a large flag, it's crucial that those under your command don't waver. Therefore, Deng Zixuan's selection of people must be strictly controlled.

  The night action went very smoothly, and the prison guards were all disarmed. These masked men scared the prison guards so much that they wet their pants... The prisoners were safely rescued and taken to White Tiger Mountain. Afterwards, the government was shaken, searching everywhere, but there was no clue at all. The government focused on various towns, who would have thought that these people were hiding in the mountains and wilderness? The government never expected that a group of mountain bandits had taken away the prisoners.

  Chen Jintang successfully selected more than 200 people from the prisoners, and before leaving, he left Wu Baolu in charge of Baituozhai as the leader, with Song Fei assisting him. Chen Jintang asked Wu Baolu to continue selecting qualified personnel, widely recruiting talents, and cultivating his power. After the weather cooled down, the official recruitment stopped, and the number of recruits reached over 300 people. Chen Jintang led his troops back on their journey.